


the price we pay

by Purple64



Category: SHINee
Genre: Gen, Kidnapping, grifters minho and jonghyun, hacker/mastermind onew, hitter key, leverage inspired au, thief taemin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:48:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26906146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purple64/pseuds/Purple64
Summary: The job was suppose to be easy, but when their leader goes missing, the boys realize that it's not that easy to run away from one of the biggest names of the underground. Inspired by the show leverage, story is incomplete.
Relationships: Choi Minho & Kim Jonghyun & Kim Kibum | Key & Lee Jinki | Onew & Lee Taemin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	the price we pay

**Author's Note:**

> So this was written a few years back, I haven't post fic in like 12 years. But, I found it on my computer and decided to share it after seeing leverage is coming back. I don't know if I'll continue but maybe one day i'll finish it. please enjoy!

He knew something must have happened once it hit the two-hour mark and Onew still wasn’t here. It was hard to pull off a job when your leader failed to show up and Key knew something had gone wrong.

He called the others and now they were all waiting at the base hoping for some kind of message. Taemin and Jonghyun kept glancing in vain at their phones and Minho kept pacing back and forth. It was driving Key mad and he was close to snapping at them to stop being annoying but held back. After all he kept getting up and rearranging various object around the room to keep himself busy. If this was their way of dealing, he had no right to be mad.

He knew the reason he was so on edge was because he was the last to see Onew. He should have gone with their leader, despite Onew’s protests that this was an easily a one man grift, and that they wouldn’t need the whole teams efforts to pull it off. He thought back to his conversation with the missing man, that happened only a few hours earlier. It felt like it was longer than that, especially since Onew didn’t even bother to check in with any of them. 

_“Onew just where do you think you’re going? ” a voice called out, making the man in question turn around in surprise. His hand resting on the doorknob as he gave Key a confused glance._

_“To do the job, I’m pretty sure you were at the meeting with the rest of us Key.” That caused Key to cross his arms as he huffed in annoyance._

_“I mean what do you think you’re doing going by yourself? I should come as backup in case you run into trouble.”_

_“You’re being silly Key, all I have to do is dress up in a janitor outfit, download everything on the USB drive, and meet with client.” Onew walked up to Key, pulling at his arms until he uncrossed them. Onew leaned his forehead against Key, grabbed his hands, and started to massage them gently in reassurance. “This job will take me two hours tops, and I can start briefing the team on the next job I have lined up. Honestly the client is paying us way too much for this, we have nothing to worry about.”_

_“I don’t know, something doesn’t feel right about this,” Key mumbled to himself as he watched Onew play with his fingers. It was an old trick Onew used to calm him down and worked every time._

_“Don’t worry so much, I’ll be fine.”_

Who could blame him for ignoring his gut when Onew sent that sunshine smile of reassurance his way.

All Onew was suppose to do was hack the computer system of some low-down corporation, give the information to their client, and get the pay out of the century. The company wasn’t even high profile enough to have a security system installed and Key stupidly let that be an excuse for Onew to be alone. Key didn’t doubt the hacker’s skills but he was out there somewhere without the rest of the team. And the point of the group’s formation was that they could depend on each other’s individual talents to get the job done.

Key was the team’s main fighter, or as Onew dubbed it “hitter” which always caught people off guard. You wouldn’t expect someone who looked like him be able to take down a gang of overly muscular men. Taemin was one of the best thieves in the business, he could look you straight in the eye as he lifted your wallet and you would never know. Minho and Jonghyun were both grifters who had a bit of a rivalry going on. They could play multiple roles at once in the same party and no one would be the wiser.

They all came together because of horrible circumstances but, stayed together thanks to Onew saving them. It was through him that they were able to come together and form the family they desperately needed. And without him Key felt like they would be lost once again. Usually they were suppose to wait until a member missed three check ins while on the job before assuming things went south but, with his unease growing stronger every minute Key decided to trust his instincts. Which is what spurred him into action.

He jumped up from his seat, startling the others the others, and with a face set in steely determination his voice rang out a single order for the team.

“Let’s go find our leader.”

\--

Key approached the building and tapped his ear to activate his comlink, immediately hearing Jonghyun and Minho bickering in the van parked a few blocks away. The familiar noise put him as ease, if they were making an effort to treat this like any other job so would he. He cleared his throat and the two fell silent, waiting on his orders. They all knew he tended to take the lead when Onew wasn’t around, so they weren’t surprised that he decided to call the shots now.

“Taemin are you in position?” Key murmured, as he swept the building for any unwanted company. Although it was after hours, you never knew who might be lurking in the halls.

“I’m in the vent leading to the computer room. Give me a minute.”

“Wow Taemin, you must be getting rusty if it took you this long to get to the room,” Minho voice cut in, laced with laughter.

“You should check your wallet before you make assumptions,” Taemin replied rather smugly, as Minho grumbled a few curses.

“You should have known he was gonna swipe one of our wallets when he offered to grab us lunch,” Jonghyun cut in, before Taemin and Minho got to deep into their spat.

Key let their voices fade into the background as he began walking the perimeter of the building. Something wasn’t right about this job and he was looking for anything to help him figure out what. As he approached the back access to the storage room, the uneasy feeling intensified.

Lying on the ground was Onew’s earbud and phone. Key felt his heart stop and bile rise in his throat at the site of a small red stain on the ground. No, he refused to think the worse outcome without seeing a body first. Not even a second later he heard Taemin’s voice on the coms.

“Guys they have him and left us a number.”

Key bent down with shaky hands to pick up their leaders one source of contacting them. “Taemin get back to the van, we need to plan on how to get him back.”

\--

When he got in the van Taemin was already there, his hand griping the note so hard his knuckles were white. His eyes had a dangerous glint to them, which was never a good sign, especially when they needed him at his best to get back Onew. Taemin had tendency to go off the plan and do his own thing when one of them was in danger. His methods of saving someone leaned more towards a violence that even Key had trouble doing, and he was the group’s main fighter.

He exchanged looks with Minho and Jonghyun, they both nodded towards Taemin, good they would keep an eye on him.

He took a deep breath and approached the thief, who still hadn’t relaxed his hand holding the note. Key gently reached towards him and Taemin flinched back, and crushed the note to his chest. Something wasn’t right; whatever was on the note was bad enough that Taemin’s walls were starting to go up again. And the only person who could get him to relax was currently missing.

“I need that note to help get Onew”, Key said softly, holding out his hand. Taemin reluctantly handed it over. And Key was alarmed to see his hands were shaking. He glanced over to Jonghyun and Minho, both their faces expressing concern over Taemin’s behavior.

Key took a deep breath and read the note aloud.

_Don’t worry about Jinki, he’s back where he belongs. Tell Taemin not to worry too much about coming back; I don’t need his skills anymore. He was easy to replace._

_-SM_

Key felt his face drain of color. Lee Soo Man found them. They all spent years working for the man, under his “company” SM, just one of the many underground organizations that recruited young kids and teens to do their dirty work. He promised safety, and home off the streets for a small price. That’s how he kept so many employees, he would force kids to sign slave contracts, forcing them to be bound to the company until they paid off the “kindness” he provided.

Once a recruit was old enough, Soo Man trained them in different skills and if you were good enough you were put into a team. Key, Jonghyun, Minho, and Taemin were put into SHINee, a newly made team lead by Onew.

Onew or Lee Jinki spent his whole life in SM, being one of the few recruits to be part of SM Academy. The kids lucky enough to be part of the academy were usually given as payments to the company by parents wanting to pay off their debts quickly. Onew was eventually was adopted by Soo Man due to his hacking skills. Being adopted was the worst outcome for a recruit that meant you couldn’t escape. But, he did and he took the rest of SHINee with him.

No wonder Taemin was acting like this, it thanks to Taemin’s adoption by Soo Man that made Onew finally form a plan for them to escape. Key tried to calm down his urge to be vomit. He took in the faces of his team. Jonghyun as usual wasn’t holding back his emotions, his face already full of tears. Minho was biting his lip so hard it started to bleed, while trying to comfort Jonghyun. Taemin was no longer shaking but his face became blank, there was no telling what his emotions were.

“W-we have pull it together,” Key shakily spit out, he forced himself to take a deep breath and let it out. He tried to speak again, “We’re no good to Onew if we don’t pull it together.”

“Key’s right,” Jonghyun replied. “We need to cash in any favors we have with people. We need to be on top of our game if we’re going back to SM.”

“I still have contacts in SM that owe me,” Minho cut in, “I know for a fact that there are teams that want to take him down and escape.”

“I’ll do anything to get him back. You guys know that, but I can’t promise to hold myself back against anyone in my way,” Taemin finally spoke, his voice flat. Jonghyun and Minho both opened their mouths to reply but Taemin cut them off. “I don’t care, I know not everyone working at SM has a choice, but if it takes one or two lives to get him back I won’t regret it.”

Key felt himself get sick again, he knew Taemin could be ruthless but they never took lives of the innocent, hell, they barely ever took lives on their jobs. Only handful of times they were ever put in that position and Key tried to be the one to do it.

He feared at the end of this, they wouldn’t be the same people that Onew fought so hard to protect. He may be the one to be in charge when their leader wasn’t around, but he wasn’t the one who could bring out the goodness that they all thought they lost. Onew helped them realize that the skills they were forced to learn and used could be blessing instead of curses.

But he felt that in order to save their leader they all might have to cross that line that Onew never want them reach.

**Author's Note:**

> idk man. i don't even remember writing this but my past self had some valid ideas cause key being able to take down people twice his size is the best mental image. i hope you liked this and if you haven't already check out the show leverage, it's such a delight!


End file.
